Training

Gurkha strike called off

by Mark Rowe

A strike by former Gurkha soldiers that could have seen the men on picket lines outside British Army barracks has been called off. The GMB union called off the strikes due in late August and early September after what the union termed an improved offer from outsourced services company Serco was accepted.

According to the GMB its meeting expressed concerns over the employment standards offered by Serco to other staff working on Contemporary Operating Environment Force (COEFOR) training and support contract for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and on any successor contracts. The Gurkhas, employed to train army recruits for the past seven years, were threatening to set up pickets in London, Hampshire and Wiltshire, namely outside outside MoD offices in Whitehall, Serco head office at Hook, and Warminster barracks. The contract had previously been with G4S. Earlier in August Gurkha GMB members presented a petition to the MoD complaining of the casualisation of important defence work.

Meanwhile Serco and rival services contractor G4S made news recently when the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) queried charges in electronic monitoring contracts, or as Serco put it ‘matters of potential concern in relation to billing practices’. Serco withdrew from the re-tendering process for the electronic monitoring service.The company in its half-yearly results said that it had a ‘programme of actions agreed with the MoJ regarding the PECS [prisoner escort and cuistodial services] contract. The company hailed what it termed a ‘broad pipeline of opportunities’ of about £30billion, and reported UK and Europe growth of 7pc, thanks mainly to new contracts started in the second half of 2012. Christopher Hyman, Group Chief Executive, said: “The strong financial performance over the first six months of 2013 has met expectations, our overall guidance for the full year is unchanged and the outlook remains positive.

“We are working closely with UK government customers on their ongoing reviews of our contracts, and have agreed to a series of actions with the MoJ regarding our PECS contract. Serco prides itself on being a values-led organisation, delivering essential services that matter to people around the world. We will act with integrity to deliver the standards expected of a service business such as ours and will put right any issues that arise from these reviews.”

And a security industry trade body has spoken up for ‘zero-hours’ contracts. Almost 80 per cent of British Security Industry Association (BSIA) members agreei with the concept, despite a recent Government pledge to review such arrangements after pressure from trade unions.

The BSIA did a survey of those sections of its membership which deliver people-based security, including security guarding, door supervision, crowd management, cash-in-transit and close protection. Some 79.2 per cent of members agreed with the concept of zero hours contracts, citing flexibility and the ability to meet unexpected demand as the two main benefits.

The trade association points to recent reports by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development; more than a million UK workers, typically in service sectors such as retail, are on zero hours contracts, which offer no guarantees of shifts or work patterns, causing many unions to call for a ban on such arrangements and prompting the Coalition’s Business Secretary, Vince Cable, to offer a review.

With 73.9 per cent of respondents to the BSIA’s survey also indicating that they employ staff on zero hours contracts, the association is eager to defend their use in the security sector.

Trevor Elliott, Director of Manpower and Membership Services at the BSIA, says: “Whilst we welcome the Government’s review of zero-hours contracts, it’s important to emphasise that where they are correctly managed, these arrangements can have a real benefit to both employees and employers. For employers within the security sector, who are often required to respond to high volume demand over very short periods of time, zero-hours contracts provide flexibility and the ability to be adaptable in fulfilling customer requirements.

“That being said, it’s equally as important to acknowledge that where these contracts are poorly managed, they may have a detrimental effect. Potential negatives highlighted by our survey included lack of stability for employees and a degree of ambiguity in terms of what is expected from both employer and employee. As such, we will look forward to the results of the Government’s review and stand prepared to defend security sector employers and their employees, to ensure that they are not negatively affected by the actions of unscrupulous employers.”

For more about the BSIA, visit www.bsia.co.uk

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